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13 August 2008

Minister Dlamini Zuma

This is a SADC briefing. As the host we are doing everything possible to make sure that the meeting is held in a good atmosphere, that all arrangements are satisfactory. So far we haven't had any complaints.

The programme started with the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad)/SADC Infrastructure meeting. It went very well. The senior officials meeting followed. And now the Task Force meeting is on course, the Task Force for integration, that is the Ministers of Trade and Industry and the Ministers of Finance from the SADC region.

Tomorrow, the Council starts its work up to Friday. We are hoping that by the end of this Summit, as the incoming Chair we would have a clear roadmap of what SADC wants to do in the next year. Ours is to make sure that we implement decisions that would have been taken during the SADC Summit.

The highlight of this gathering really is integration as we are going to launch the SADC Free Trade Area (FTA). The issues of the organ will also be discussed because the Summit discusses everything.

Let me say SADC is welcome. We hope you have a pleasant stay in South Africa. I will leave it at that and allow the SADC Executive Secretary to take us through all the issues.

Dr Salomao

Thank you very much, honourable Dr Dlamini Zuma, incoming Chairperson of the Council of Ministers of SADC.

It is good to be back. We last were here for the Ministerial Committee of the Organ of SADC. One of the mandates of the Ministerial Committee of the Organ (MCO) was to look at the preparations for the SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government.

As we've heard already from the Minister, we started our proceedings on Friday with the NEPAD/SADC infrastructure development conference. While we are launching the FTA it is important to have cognisance of the fact that to support the FTA we need to have the right infrastructure in place to support on the one hand the free movement of people and on the other hand the free movement of goods to make our region more effective.

On Saturday we had the meeting of the sub-committee on finance. And on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday we had the study committee of senior officials to prepare the documents for the Council and this afternoon, the Ministerial Task Force in Regional integration is meeting.

The Task Force was set by Summit at the Extra-Ordinary Summit held in Midrand in October 2006 to foster the implementation of our regional agenda toward the launching of the FTA, Customs Union, common market, monetary union and single currency. The Task Force was mandated by Summit to find out what we can do as a region to fast track the implementation of our integration. The Task Force has to approve the report it will submit to Council on the achievements and the outstanding issues that they need to take care of to ensure that the process leading to the consolidation of the FTA is proper.

Tomorrow, Thursday, we start with the Council of Ministers the Council has a mandate to take decisions but also to make recommendations to the Summit. The Council will be seated on Thursday and on Friday. On Friday in the afternoon Council will adopt the record and between 17h00 and 19h00 the Troika Summit of the Organ will meet. The Troika is comprised of the Chair, which is Angola, the incoming chair Swaziland, and the outgoing chair Tanzania.

The role of the Troika is to assess the political situation in the region and to table a report before Summit on how the Troika Summit reads the political developments in the region.

The same Friday, our Heads of State will have dinner hosted by President Thabo Mbeki while the members of Council also have dinner hosted by the incoming Chair of Council.

On Saturday we have the proceedings of the opening of the Summit. The outgoing Chair will make a statement, and then some of our invited guests will make some remarks. We believe that the Chairperson of the African Union (AU) will attend the Summit. Then we have the Summit in session. In the afternoon our Heads of State will have a retreat just to do a profound assessment on how they see the political situation in the region and how they see the way forward.

Even when we face difficulties among ourselves the culture of SADC is to discuss and chart a way forward. On Sunday we have the launch of the FTA in the morning. In the afternoon it will be proceedings leading to the closing of the Summit.

For this kind of agenda we really have three major items. Firstly, the elections of the SADC chair. Currently the Chair of SADC is Zambia and the incoming Chair is South Africa. Summit will decide who the next incoming Chair is after South Africa.

The same is applicable to the Organ. The Chair is Angola, the incoming Chair is Swaziland and the outgoing Chair is Tanzania. Summit will have to decide who the next incoming chair for the Organ is.

Item number two is the review of the political situation in the region. Item number three is the launch of the FTA, and finally the readmission of Seychelles. Those are the major items before the Summit.

On the review of the political situation in the region, while we have challenges in the region the region is stable. We don't have conflict, we don't have war. SADC continues to be a reference on how we move from confrontation to peace, stability and security.

We do have challenges in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in Lesotho, Malawi, Zimbabwe, and also Summit will have a chance to look at the recommendation of the MCO on how to address the situation that we faced some months ago here in South Africa in a matter related to attacks against foreigners. I believe that the region needs to take stock on how to deal with those issues.

So far in the DRC the situation is better and under control, though we face in the Eastern parts of the DRC some challenges in particular those relating to humanitarian situations.

On Lesotho, the mediator on behalf of SADC, Sir Ketumile Masire the former President of Botswana, is doing a commendable job that is why the situation is under control. He managed to have all parties engage in dialogue.

On Malawi, the situation is under control though there are differences among the government and the opposition with regards to Article 65 in the Constitution relating to what happens when members cross. The situation is difficult but under control.

On Zimbabwe, I believe that we have to encourage the parties to find a solution. The position of SADC is to support the position of the African Union (AU) resolution taken at Sharm El Sheik. The dialogue going on is the result of this process until all parties come to an agreement. We believe that the differences might be solved as we go on and as we implement. What we have to do is to support o=the role that the mediator is playing and the mediator will have a chance to table his report to the Troika and to Summit.

On the issue of Seychelles, you are aware that Seychelles decided in 2005 to withdraw from SADC due to financial constraints. After considerations and after consultation with SADC, the Prime Minister of Mauritius and the Prime Minister of Lesotho were assigned to dialogue with the Seychelles and encourage them to come back. A decision was taken in 2007 and now in 2008 Seychelles will be seated in Council as an observer but after the deliberations by Summit we believe that the Summit will be 15 member states.

Let me also highlight that on the economic front, the region is doing well. If you take out Zimbabwe, the focus for 2008 to 2009 in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is around seven comma five to eight percent, inflation is one digit. Member states are managing to control debt. The situation in terms of inflation and negative growth is a reality in Zimbabwe that is why it is important and critical for us to fix things there. We believe that sooner or later Zimbabwe can go back to playing its role in terms of economics in our region. You may recall that Zimbabwe was the second economy in this region. We need to go back to that stage.

So far without excluding Zimbabwe the region is doing well. It is not enough or sufficient to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We need to have sustainable growth of seven or eight percent in the next 10 to 15 years to ensure that we achieve the MDGs. I believe that we are progressing very well. The output in 2007 to 2008 in agriculture shows that the performance of the member states of SADC is good.

On the social front, we re making progress in the area of HIV and AIDS but the SADC could be the most affected region in the continent. It is always important to remind our Heads of State that we need to push hard to ensure that the appropriate measures are in place to ensure an extension of the lifespan of those who are infected and we avoid infection among the youth in particular.

In brief, those are the issues that the Council is going to deal with in the next two days and to make the right recommendations to the Summit. The list of items on the agenda is 12 but I mentioned the election of the SADC Chair, the review of the political situation, and the launch of the FTA and the readmission of Seychelles.

We also take stock of the construction of the SADC Headquarters in Gaborone, Botswana. We believe everything is going well and by May/June 2009 the SADC Headquarters will be ready for operation.

That's the agenda. The difficulties are there and so are the challenges.  But this region is a region of optimists. This is a region of the continent and we believe that we have to continue in the same way. What is important is to have the coherence among member states. We might differ here and there, but differences are a way of life. We are here in this region to address those differences and to make sure that we make this region the best place to live in this world. These are my introductory remarks to the media.

Questions and answers

Question: Can you tell us how many Heads of State will be coming to the Summit. Dr Dlamini Zuma, do you have any comments about the threats of Botswana to refuse to come to the Summit.

Answer: All the countries will be represented. At what level? With senior officials, all countries were represented. At this meeting that is taking place all countries are represented, including Botswana. At the Council meeting I presume that countries will be represented at the appropriate level.

When it comes to Heads of State, I'm aware that it is unlikely that the president of Zambia will be here because he is still in hospital. Zambia will thus not be represented at the Head of State level.

When it comes to Botswana, we would feel very sad if Botswana does not attend. Between South Africa and Botswana there is no problem. The problem that they have is one which is beyond our control, not within South Africa's control. It is a problem that South Africa is spending a lot of time, resources and energy in trying to resolve. But Botswana is a sovereign state and will take its own decisions. We don't know yet whether they are coming or not. As you say, there may be that possibility. All I can say is that it will be sad.

Question: What is the next course of action, if any, if President Mbeki comes back from Zimbabwe with no agreement signed?

Answer: Minister Dlamini Zuma – The Troika of the Organ which is the one responsible for this issue and is the one that mandated President Mbeki to mediate, the Troika will be meeting on Friday. President Mbeki is right now in Angola to brief the Chairperson of the Organ – President Dos Santos about where the issues are and to take whatever mandate from him.

On Friday in the evening the Troika will meet and will then advise the rest of the Organ on where issues are. The Organ will then discuss and decide on what to do. It cannot be one country that decides. As it was the Organ that mandated President Mbeki, they will debate the issue and advise what the next step should be.

Question: Could you clarify who will be attending the SADC Conference on behalf of Zimbabwe?

Answer: Minister Dlamini Zuma - we haven't been told who will be representing Zimbabwe but probably at the Head of State level it will be the Head of State of Zimbabwe.

Question: Who was invited for Zimbabwe?
Answer: Minister Dlamini Zuma - We were invited by Zambia to this Summit, as the Chair. I haven't checked whom Zambia has invited. But South Africa was invited by Zambia, and all other countries, because Zambia is the chair and is the one that invites participants to the Summit. South Africa will receive and welcome the invitees.

Dr Salomao - You are aware that the Chairperson of SADC, the Republic of Zambia, when invitations were issued all SADC Heads of State and Government were invited, including His Excellency Robert Mugabe. Now it is up to the relevant authorities in Zimbabwe to decide who is going to represent Zimbabwe.

Question: Was Robert Mugabe invited as a Head of State of Zimbabwe?

Answer: Dr Salomao – The person who was invited is His Excellency Robert Mugabe.

Question: We know that the President of Zambia is ill, who is going to do the handover?

Answer: Minister Dlamini Zuma – The Chair is held by Zambia the country. The Zambian authorities will decide who they'll send in place of President Mwanawasa. The Chair is not necessarily given to an individual. That will be the decision of the vice president and his cabinet on who will come and attend the SADC meeting and do the handover.

All we heard is that there may be a Constitutional problem about somebody who has delegated powers delegating to someone else. The person who is running the country is their vice-president who is running it on the basis of delegation from the president. We were told that there may be a constitutional problem for the vice president to further delegate someone to run the country if he goes out of the country. That is why who they are going to send. The vice president cannot delegate another acting president because he is an acting president.  In their constitution there is no allowance for an acting president to appoint another acting president. He might not be able to leave the country on that basis.

Question: The reports of President Mbeki and other reports on the political situation in the region, will those reports be made available to the media?

Answer: Minister Dlamini Zuma – I don't think you have ever received internal reports of SADC. You normally get briefed and get a communiqué. I don't remember in the nine years that I have been Foreign Minister that internal reports have been distributed to the media. I don't think it will start today, but I'm just telling you what normally happens.

Issued by Department of Foreign Affairs
13 August 2008